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Archive for November, 2013

More from the Archeological Dig

Thursday, November 14th, 2013

postcardshelf

Part of the clean and purge is coming in contact with things that have been around you for so long that you forgot how special they are. One of the nice things about this office is the wainscoting with a little shelf on top. I have had all my mini fiber art pieces displayed there. I started picking them up and putting them in a box to go with me to the new studio. I can remember who made each one without looking on the back. These two are by Kristin La Flamme and Connie Rose.

I found this drawing of Lisa’s long gone rescue dog, Megan. I was taking a class with Lura Schwarz Smith and I was going to make an art quilt for her with Megan’s image. I think I did just her head. I will probably find it when I get to the studio next week.

megandogdrawing

I had a big pile of yarn. Most of it was put in a bag to donate to the Prayer Shawl ladies at Trinity. I saved this variegated yard. Love the colors in all of these.

variegatedyarnleftovers

I also boxed up all my magazines. I will offer these for sale at my studio sale and the leftovers will go to the Guild Silent Auction.

quiltzines

I thought I would share some of the other journal I found. The first page says: Journal of Visual Observations. It was started in October when we lived in Wilmington, NC – I don’t know what year or why I started this. I was active in the local art museum as a docent and took art classes there. Anyway, I was amused by what I wrote.

At the beach, ocean colors change from dark  blue green to a pale, pale blue green as the waves hit shore, Sky is deep blue that becomes softened near the horizon. Clouds on the horizon at first seem to be hues of gray and white but then become shades of purple and mauve.

The sand character is determined by several qualities – the water content – wetter sand is darker and very smooth. At the shoreline as the waves meet the sand, there is an ever changing effervescent quality – bubbles and water splashing, flashes of light, stones and shells pushed to a new location.

Sailboats are beautiful to us because of the graceful lines of the sales and the hull contrasted with the vertical lines of the mast and ropes.

Walking the dog on my street, I notice the man-made clutter that punctuates nature. Paint spill on the leaves of a shrub. Trash, a yellow paint line and red flags left by NCNG, Although unappealing, the artist can use this jarring juxtaposition as an attention grabber or to make a point. Art is not always beautiful.

Dawn – dark shadows change to splashes of sun light. Followed by dapled sunlight and then full sun. Sun is sometimes bright red whe it’s hazy. This week it is bright yellow.

6pm- Sun is setting. Airlie road is in shade. Sun is still shining across the waterway on the beach community. The light is beautiful reflecting off the beach cottages and water. “Glisten” After dark, lights are reflected in the water – reds, oranges, greens. Water was still – reflections were slightly rippled. A boat is passing by causing the reflections to fracture and become distorted.

There are a few more entries. Each entry became shorter. I obviously do not have the attention span to keep up with something like this, and, yet, I am a pretty faithful blogger. Guess I just need an audience!!

I will be taking a day off from sort and purge tomorrow. Mr C and I are driving down to Eugene for the Episcopal Diocese convention. I am manning the Trinity Arts table with the prospectus and entry form for our juried show in May.

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, November 13th, 2013

oakleaves

The things I find!

Tuesday, November 12th, 2013

foundjournals

You probably realize that I have been missing in action because I have been busy with by archeological dig in the studio/office of our home. I keep finding interesting bits of ephemera, photos and unfinished projects like a sweater I was knitting for myself and a couple of journals.

Here is a lost doll sign that Mia made when she lost her favorite doll at the beach where we were spending Thanksgiving. I saved it because? Well, just because.

mialostdoll

Last week I found That 70s Family. Today, I have the 80s version.

that80sfamily

 

Today, I found the journals up there at the top. The first one that I started had three entries, dated September 23, 24 and 25, 1991. (22 years ago. I was a mere 53 years old.)

An excerpt from the first entry:

Yesterday, Lisa asked why I had not yet written in this journal and started to scold me. She stopped, apologized and said, “You have to be ready and want to do it.” Every day, I  have these profound thoughts and ideas which I want to write down. I am usually pm a walk or bike ride, and I just never get around to it. Today. I faced the fact that if I don’t write it down, it is not real and it (a thought or idea about myself) can just be out there floating around and I don’t have to deal with it. In other words, I can be a figment of my imagination, and not be real.

(There was some other stuff. I ended with the following.)

I am thankful for the affirmations that Steve, Mark, Lisa and Stephanie give to me. I will not dread the future, I will put the past behind me. I will write about what today gave to me. There, I have begun.

The next entry made me cry.

Today was a long, lonely day. I am attempting to keep myself busy with projects that need to get done. I really crave interaction with other people. Stephanie called this morning – needed money- but we had a nice chat. Steve called from Japan tonight. He misses me as much as I miss him.

I’m struggling over looking for a job. I am afraid of failure and I want to maintain my independence. I’m not sure what I have a passion for, but I may not have the luxury of indulging in my passion.

I wonder how Mark is doing. He has been teaching English in Mexico for two days. I hope he calls soon. I miss him. I am happy that he has made a goal for himself and succeeded in reaching it.

The last entry was very short and sad.

I’m in a rut. I have no friends and no family to interact with. I’m tired of entertaining myself. I have to make a plan to get back into life.

I am trying to remember the circumstances that made me feel so lonely. As I recall, I had just quit a job that I was unhappy with. Prior to that, I had owned and operated two successful diet counseling franchises. The company underwent a leveraged buy out and essentially went in the dumper. But, I had had several years of a happy work life and interaction with lots of people. Fast forward to the time when Mr C was constantly traveling to Japan for work. The kids were long gone from home. Soon after that, I got a job at the Episcopal Church as the office administrator.  I loved the job and felt happy and fulfilled. In 1994, we moved to Wilmington, NC. where the other journal was started. I will share that in a later blog post. It is somewhat of a mystery to me!!

I might also say that when I started blogging in 2005, I finally found a way to journal that worked for me. And, can we say, that I finally found something for which I have a passion?

In addition to being busy with the sorting and purging, I helped with our annual Trinity Artisan’s Fair on Sunday. I loved these Chickens made from Pendleton Wool scraps. There is an outlet store near me. The maker gets her fabric there.

pendletonwoolchicks

I have also been stitching on the 3x3s in the evening.

3x3stitching

Unearthing the Past

Friday, November 8th, 2013

70sweaving

The purging and organizing continues. Today, Steph and M and M came over to help me. Steph found this woven hanging that I did back in the 70’s. I thought I had lost it in one of our last moves. Here is a detail.

weavingdetail

I did quite a bit of weaving back in the day. I was juried into the museum artisans guild in Schenectady and sold my work there. After we moved to California, I stopped weaving and sold the loom about 10 years ago.

Here is something else from the 70’s – That 70’s Family!

that70sfamily

I always get tickled when I see something with my name on it because it is not very common so I have been hanging on to this:

geraldinescheesebites

And I was very happy to find this stencil that I made in a Jane Dunnewold class because the next Printed Fabric Bee Queen has asked for blue spirals.

spiralstencil

Today, we finished clearing out the dye/paint kitchen so that Mr C can paint it. It is the only room downstairs that we have not painted.

Here are Mia and Miles:

Mia sorted all my brushes and other painting utensils. Then she moved on to my color pens and pencils. She threw out the ones that had dried up. I gave her the big box of Prismacolor pencils – she was quite happy.

miasortingpens

Miles helped me sort paper and office supplies and made trips to our recycling bin.

mileshelper

These shelves were overloaded with paper stuff – much of which I will never use. Now, I just have what I need.

paperstorage

These are the donations for SCRAP, an organization that collects and sells creative supplies. I have another big bag full in the storage area.

forSCRAP

It is starting to feel good to get this done. Next week, Steph and I are going to work on the office and start getting it staged.  Then we will move on to the Studio. I have decided to commit to a studio downsizing sale so I will have to be organized and ready to get rid of stuff by Dec. 6th. I am going to put that in the Guild Newsletter so that I can’t back out. Trying to think how to sell the fabric I don’t want – by the bag or by the pound? If anyone has had experience with this, let me know what has worked well.

So, now you know what I have been doing – keeping my promise to Mr C and he is very happy with the results. We are also happy with the new room on the house – looks great!

newroof

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, November 6th, 2013

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